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Christmas Cards Made 2016

Thursday, 28 February 2013

Finally finished my card for Sarn's February Rudolph Day.
On the 25th of each month, Sandra from Stamping for Pleasure hosts the Rudolph Day Challenge. You have from the 25 till the end of the month to get your Christmas card submitted. There is a limit of one card and you can combine with up to 5 other challenges.

Sometimes there is a prize...this month it is a set of 2 lovely stamps. Mainly, it is a place to ensure you get at least a card finished a month and fellowship with a like minded group of paper crafters!

This month I wanted to create a card that included one of my recent thrift shops finds. I used a 25th wedding invitation from a 15 cent 3 pack! I die cut the number 25 to include the lovely oval scroll pattern that surrounded it. I even saved the reverse image as I think I could find a way to work that into another Christmas card.

This card was really hard to photograph as I kept getting glare from the silver shimmery card stock. Here is a close up that shows the thrift shop #25 a little better. I think you will just be able to make out that the actual 2 and the 5 are embossed, whist the rest of the oval is just silver card stock with a cream flourish design.

This was a fun card to make but seemed to take forever as we have had a busy week. I had other cards on the go and everything seemed to be 75% finished and not getting any further along! Do you ever have days like that?

I was stalling getting them finished as I am a bit behind on visiting some blogs and tried to do a catch up this week. I like to page back and look at everything I have missed and leave comment on them too, so it can get a bit time consuming. Note to self...stay caught up!!!

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

It that favourite day of the week...the day to peek into all the other crafty desks and see what everyone has been up to this week. If you want to join in the fun, pop over to Julia's place at the Stamping Ground

You've caught me in the midst of getting a Christmas card ready to submit to Rudolph Day over at Stamping for Pleasure. Sarn's challenge runs from the 25th of each month and closes on the last day of the month at 7pm. You can submit any type of Christmas card...that's 12 cards ready for Christmas if you participate each month!

So here's my desk...one of these Christmas cards is going to be finished up for Sarn's challenge tomorrow...but which one will it be is a secret till tomorrow...I will have to keep you in suspense till then!

I know it looks like I am standing on a ladder, but I promise you that this mobility challenged lady certainly is not!!! Here is a bit of a close up ...a very distorted close up but it's the best I've got. The the black and fushia card at the back is a thank you card for the fellow that gave me the cross body pack sack (when I was released from hospital). It is sitting there waiting for me to make him a set of bird cards as well, for a wee thank-you gift to go with this card..

The Christmas cards up front have most of the elements laid out on them...I am one of those move things all about several times, before I commit to glue them down types. I'm sure there will be some of you reading this that are the same!!!. Even then sometimes, I pry them off and move them yet again! I have to cut 2 more snowflake corners for the red and white card and then add some red teensy diamonds to the corner dies.

The card on the left, needs a piece of the red cross stitch cloth die cut into the bottom petals of the poinsettia...the ivory is just blending into the page. Hopefully that shot of red will perk them up. The large silver and cream oval 25 cutout, used to be a 25th anniversary invite. I got a package of 3 at the thrift shop for 15 cents. Just behind the cards you can see the rectangular, silver reverse cutout. I will save that to use on a future card.

So that's it for me...I'm only a red fabric poinsettia petal, and 2 more snowflake die cut corners away from gluing everything in place.... hopefully I make the Rudolph Day deadline!

Monday, 25 February 2013

Finished up another birthday card card today. You might be getting a little tired of this stamped image and the pink and bright green colours! Sorry about that!
I wanted to use up the last of those scraps so managed to get one more done for the finished cards bin. Feels good to create a card solely from scraps, doesn't it!

I am much happier with this one than the six I made the other day. I added a few more details, a shot of stickles and it just seemed to make a difference. I also took an extra bottom petal from the flower I layered and cut it into 12 or maybe 13 pieces (cut like pieces of pie). I then glued these on the back of the image. The intact petal was about the same size as the image circle so this then allowed me to glue each section onto the back of the flower, taking care to keep to line them all up the same distance past the edge of the image circle.. Voila! A floral petal mat to co-ordinate with the layered flower. Hopefully a preteen or teenager might like to receive this card.
Here is a closeup of the flower I made and hopefully you can see the shimmer of the stickles on it.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

Made my very first fancy folded card...I googled how to make one and was super nervous and read the directions 3 or 4 times. Well, I should have read them again because I made mistakes assembling it!
I'm not sure if i made the right kind of card, but it was fun doing it and this was a great challenge theme.

I used a Sizzix die that I had never used before and didn't realize that just like card stock has a right and wrong side after you have cut it, so would a die cut card, as the blades would create a smooth and a raised side as they cut through.

I should have folded my card the opposite way so that the smooth side of the cut on the main card would be visible. Instead you get a view of the rough, cut edge when it is open. I wondered why it didn't want to stay sitting open properly! I cut a sample card first and folded it correctly (by total fluke). It sits open very nicely and has a nice smooth front view...not so much this one! I had to struggle with it a bit to sit nicely.

Here is a look from the other side Now sometimes you can't win for trying...I managed to stamp the sentiment off center vertically and didn't even notice until I had already glued it down! Wanted to get it up on my blog in time for club viewing, but will restamp and recut the sentiment a smidge smaller, and then just glue it over this one. Hopefully it will just look like a double mat!

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

It's WOYWW time and my desk actually has some finished work on it! I've been getting on with the goals I wrote about earlier this year.
Goals to use my stash.
Goals to make some basic birthday cards for my Little Miss C and Little Mr. P to give to their friends.
Goal to make some basic birthday cards for my daughter's to give their friends and their families.
Goals to use up some of my flowers.

Here's a shot of the desk and the wall I face as I work create. Whoops! Looks like one of the cards from my bloggy friends fell over on that top shelf...Drat! Sorry about that...Ohhhh...I must share that the card on the far left side of my desk is from Sarn.@ Stamping for Pleasure...it has the cutest little cow riding a bicycle with 2 chooks in tow!!!

On my desktop you can see a few cards I made this weekend...good, basic, everyday cards for the finished cards bin. Nothing too complicated, nothing too fancy...just "get 'er done" cards. Need to make about 50 more....teehee

Here is a bit more of a close up.

The images were stamped and then later coloured, at the weekly craft nights I do with my next door neighbour. It is easy to carry a few stamps, some ink and my copics over and stamp off a few pages of images. Another evening I will just bring the images and my pens. On the nights she comes to my house I can just do the same...easy peasy!

I chose some images that I though would work for 5 and even 6 year old's, and created a couple of little girl cards. I had some scalloped circles already cut out so these were really fast to make. The card bases were from a box of prefolded cards and envelopes that I am trying to use up.

I was on a bit of a kick, so did one in more masculine colors...I am not too fond of that one. I thought the scalloped circles were too girly for a masculine card so I cut the edge of the orange scallop circle with some really old deckle edge scissors. There is just something about it that I'm not happy with...but a 6 year old little boy won't hardly look at it so...into the finished bin it goes!

The last rectangle card used a little chipboard Owl that I found on my desktop during my re-org of my room. Rather than just put it away again, I pulled one more chipboard piece from that series and used it to frame the sentiment. I figured this one would be for a boy so I inked and roughed up the edges of the card stock with the back of my scissors. I like this little Owl card!

Lastly I made a couple of square cards for younger teen girls. I managed to use a few flowers and was quite pleased about that! Not sure that I like the pink and bright green one. I should have made the green piece narrower and I think the flower looks too "busy"! It is done now so I will leave it and some 9 or 10 year old might like it!

After all, it was all about getting 'er done!! I do still have to stamp a birthday verse on the inside of these cards...I hope to get that done tonight.

If you liked peeking at my desk and want to see more, visit Julia @ The Stamping Ground and you can continue peeking at many, many, busy and creative desks around the world.

I am submitting these cards to the following challenges:

1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - Must use snippets...Everything on these cards is either from my older stash or the snippet bins. Some items are more than 5 years old!

Friday, 15 February 2013

My girlfriend and I sometimes go out for a good peek around the thrift shops. We each seem to have a few items that we are always on the lookout for. I keep my eyes peeled for things on her list and she does the same for me.

Sometimes I go home empty handed but still have a day rich in smiles, family stories shared, a few giggles and at least one cup of really good coffee. She is really close to my daughter and also to my grandchildren. They think of her like an extra Grandma. She even watches for jodhpurs, or horsey things for Little Miss C!

Last weekend I hit the motherlode...I found everything on my list and more!
Ribbon, crocheted lace, lace, silver string, silver netting and some little packages of cards! Yay! I paid $1.50 for a fairly large bag of ribbon and lace and 75 cents for another bag of crochet lace trim.
I always look through the cards...in particular, the teesy invitation or thank you cards. There are often some vintage type cards and because they are small, the image is the right size oi UPcycle.

I found a packet of 10 tiny invitations. The image is a sweet bouquet of white flowers. I checked to make were they were matte type card stock as I look for cards that look as if they are made from watercolour paper. 15 cents for a packet of ten cards...you can't beat that!

Here is the first card I made from my packet of ten.

I cut the floral spray out and then re-cut it two more times so I could create a 3D image when I reassembled it. I fussy cut 2/3 of the flowers for the second layer and then just a few individual blooms for the third layer...these blooms were already sort of touching so it was easy to fussy cut them all in one piece. This photo shows the 3D effect looking to the top of the card...

Here is one looking down the card...you can really see the 3 layers now!

I put a drop of Stardust stickles on the tips of each petal and used a fine tip paint brush to brush it out onto the side of the petal. I then added a pale green diamond bling to the center of each stamen . I decided it looked a wee bit bare so I fussy cut and popped up the butterfly too.

All the card stock and patterned paper used in this card are from my snippets bins. This is a good one for Miss Di at Pixies Crafty Workshop.

This is the card that was half assembled, on my desk at WOYWW193...it had some crochet cotton lace and a little twine on it then...I decided I didn't like that trim on this card, so removed it and added the sentiment instead. I saved the trim for another card...it just wasn't working on this one. I did use the DP that was with it that day!
Recipe
Card Base - White 5 1/2 inch card and envelope
DP - from my stash, originally from Clipper Street Scrapbook Store, the girl's paperie, paper girl vintage patchwork
Card stock - from my stash, the aqua and yellow originally were card stock cards from Michaels but were too flimsy to use so cut them up for mats
Image - thrift shop cards UPcycled
Bling - from my stash
Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Circles and Fancy Circles
Stickles - Star Dust
Stamp - Hero Arts sentiment

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1.Pixies Crafty Workshop - Other than the Thrift shop cards image, everything else is from my stash and from the snippets bin.
2. Shopping Our Stash - They say it's your Birthday
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Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Time for a peek at all the other crafty desks and see what they are up to...lots of wonderful ideas for creating and organizing can be found here...in between you will also find the friendliest bunch of crafters you could ever meet...
What am I talking about, you say? Well it's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday...the day to see exactly all of that!!!

So join in...pop over to the lovely Julia's blog Stamping Ground and check out the fun...but be sure to leave her a nice comment before you begin to blog hop.

My desk is a bit of a fright...I am just finishing up a card...just have to cut the card base and then need to glue the elements down...maybe a couple of pearls and it will be done. The bouquet of flowers on my handmade card front are fussy cut from a packet of 10 invitations and envelopes that I bought at the thrift shop for 15 cents! I fussy cut 3 of the cards, cutting a smaller portion of the scene for each subsequent layer. Stacked and pop dotted the layers to create a card front! I should be able to get 2 additional 3 layer cards out of that packet plus one left over image to tuck in to something eventually...for now it will be doomed to the snippets bin!

I am not including a sentiment as I am not sure if it will be for a birthday or???
But what's all that mess at the back of my photo you say? There are stamps coralled in a little bin that are cleaned and waiting to be put away; stamps waiting to be used; a bag of ribbon from the thrift shop waiting to be ironed and hung up; a huge stash of Michael's treasures; and various odds and sods that really need put away! The crocheted ribbon on my floral card front came from that thrift shop bag.

I have featured some of the Michael's 90% off the last ticketed price treasures on a couple of my cards lately and have had some requests from my blogger friends asking me to show some more of those bargains.
They are patiently sitting there under the stack of stuff at the back...waiting for me to get clicking with my camera. Hope to get them posted by the end of the week.

The beautiful bird hooks were a present from my little sister...trying to think of just where to hang it. I have a couple of pretty aprons that I wear to protect my clothes when I stamp. It might just work out for hanging those on it. Trouble is there is not much black wall space left in my room...teehee

Off to finish my card and check out all the other workdesks! I try to visit the vertical row I am placed in and any blogs I follow and of course I return the visit for anyone who leaves me a comment! I have visited 2 vertical rows a few times. and even made it round to everyone a couple of times...

Monday, 11 February 2013

Here is a quick 'n'easy Christmas card. The only thing that took a little time was placing the diamonds on it!

I am having a bit of a problem getting the right aqua to show up for you in the photo so I have tried another set of pictures. The actual shade of aqua is half way between these two photos but due to the pearlescent sheen on the card stock, I can't get it to show correctly. I have tried tilting to all different angles to no avail. You will have to use your imagination! teehee

It's another of my corrugated card and envelope sets with a layer of darker aqua card stock from my snippet bins. Luckily I had another piece, a lighter aqua shade of the same shimmery card stock and embossed it with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Sorry that I don't know the name of it. I often buy my EB folders from bins of loose folders at the scrapbook store and they are not marked with the name!

I pop dotted a Memory Box Drop Ornament 98378 and layered it with overlay Emma 98411. This was the last of the Emma overlays that I precut before my surgery. It was so nice to just flip through my diecuts and pull it out to use.
I added some teensy diamond bling to the diamond shapes on the embossed background. . I searched though my bling bins to find some teensy pearls to add to the ornament snowflakes. How is it that the bling bins can me almost bursting out of their containers with excess stash and yet you never seem to have just the right size or the right colour? Since I am committed to a "Use Your Stash" goal it was back to the bins to look for anything teensy...I managed to find some blue diamonds that I have been hoarding for a couple of years...there wasn't quite enough blue so I added a few of the teensy diamond ones to fill in.

A bit of silver string from my stash made a hanger loop and then it was done. I have had that silver string for a few years so was glad to start using it up!

Considering that I am usually the worlds slowest card maker, I surprised myself!

No recipe today as this card is so easy that all the directions are in the post above.

Saturday, 9 February 2013

The theme this fortnight for the Christmas Card Club is Dawn's choice..."It's Only Words" (no image). Hopefully I have interpreted the theme correctly. I am thinking it means no stamped or digital images, no toppers and no cut out images from sticker sheets etc.

OK...so fair game for die cuts and flowers and bling...lots of bling! Here is my card...

The Kraft background with the ivory flocked poinsettias is the topper from a Christmas card. They were on clearance for ten cents as Carlton cards. I fell in love with that pretty flocking and had to have them to UPcycle! I sliced off the back and trimmed down the front a tad. I took the back that I sliced off and stamped my sentiment on it and then glued it onto the front so it sits in the diecut window. I then mounted that flush on a Kraft card that I cut to fit this size. Luckily it came with the matching red envelope as well!

The flowers were from the Michael's infamous dollar bins but I picked up about ten bags when they were on clearance for 25 cents. Yay, an UPcycled and low cost card!!!

I pulled some of the red poinsettia flowers apart and rebuilt them into various sizes. Added some Martha Stewart punched snowflakes and branches, another left over jute petal, a few pearls, some red diamond bling and then added a jute twine bow.

Friday, 8 February 2013

I worked on a Christmas card for Carol's "No patterned paper" theme at The Christmas Card Club.
Boy oh boy, that was harder than I thought! Pulled out my embossing folders and used this Provocraft Cuttlebug snowflake flourish folder. It is call Snow Flurries and is from the Winter Wonderland set.
I did not know the true name as the scrapbook stores here often buy sets and break them up to sell each folder individually! Shaz in Oz at http://calligraphycards-shazinoz.blogspot.ca/
tracked it down for me! Thanks Shaz

Now, you all know how I love to find a bargain so I decided to use another of my infamous Michael's bargains from my weekend excursion to Bellingham in the U.S. The large dark blue snowflake was in their 90% off the last marked price bins. This snowflake was only 10 cents! It has a thin, white felt base with tiny blue sequins stitched on it. It is self adhesived so was a gem to place on the embossed card stock.

I added some tiny diamond rhinestones to the embossed snowflakes and also to the edges of the flourishes. I thought it would tie in with the larger rhinestone trim on the large blue snowflake.

The Peace sentiment is an acrylic script die cut. I added it to an EK Success self stick label. Cut a dark blue card stock mat from my snippets drawer and called it a day!

Sorry for the slightly out of focus picture...The embossed card stock has a shimmery finish and won't photograph the correct shade...It is actually an aqua shade of teal. This was as close to the correct colour I could get...I had to tilt the card to get closer to the correct shade...All that tilting took the sentiment out of focus!!! Sorry!
Recipe
Card base and envelope - from my stash, Recollections brand corrugated card and envelopes
Card stock - from my stash, cobalt blue and teal
Diecut - Snowflake from Michaels
Diecut - from my stash, EK Success self adhesive label
Embossing Folder - Provocraft, Cuttlebug Snowflake Flourish (I think)
Bling - Dollarama

I am submitting this card to the following challenges
1. The Christmas Card Club - must be a Christmas card.
2. CHNC Challenge Extra - Must be a Christmas card, Anything goes theme
3. CHNC - Must be Christmas - alpha challenge ...the letter P; Mine is P for Peace
4. MFP Speedy TV Christmas Card Challenge - Must be Christmas Card

Monday, 4 February 2013

Little Miss C has been wanting to learn how to fussy cut...I had been distracting her with other tasks as I didn't want her to be disappointed in her results...

Well..........Shame on me!

I forgot that Little Miss C is only 6 years old. She is a child...a child who delights in mastering the complexity of a new skill. When you are 6, mastering the complexity of fussy cutting means you are absolutely delighted that you did not cut off any body parts of your image!!!!!

There was a look of dogged determination as she worked and at times I could hear a sharp intake of breath...I tried to appear busy with my work so she wouldn't feel self conscious or stifled.

Once done, she held it up triumphantly and said she was going to stick it on a die cut and keep it forever in her room! That box of die cuts was rifled through and the image glued down before I could suggest a slightly smaller first oval mat!

Then she decided that she would put it on her blog to share with everyone and write her blog post herself...

So.......be prepared for short and sweet...here it is....she is so proud!

And here is a card she made that I posted today for her. I use great artist license when I write her posts. Until she learns to read and write well enough to do her own, she tells me the basics of what to say and I flesh it out.. The Pony Girl - Another Pony Card

Sunday, 3 February 2013

Had a shopping trip with my husband across the border, into the United States. Walked into the Bellingham Michael's where they had 90% off the last ticketed price on clearance items...Music to my ears!

As you know, I am on a "scrap my stash" journey. I have pledged to not spend on consumables other than card stock, glue, pop dots, ink if it dried up....etc. I can spend...but not on consumables.
My exceptions are gift money which I will blow on whatever I please! And clearance if it is 80% off or better.

What a treat it was yesterday, to shop and basically pay pennies for embellishments, ribbon, stamps, and much more. I picked up several stamp sets for 29 cents that originally were up to $17.00
I found the red flower on this card...two for 29 cents. Yes I know how to make them, yes I have fabric etc...but I don't have red and I don't have a gorgeous rhinestone button like that...so into my shopping cart it went..I managed to get 2 sets!

Here is the card I made to go with it. I added some jute twine loops behind the flower. I saw the idea on Pinterest. Some of you may remember the jute shopping bags I made in the late spring/early summer. I had some of the individual petals left in with my snippets, so I added one under the blossom and one of the smallest ones under the button. Thank goodness for snippets.

The border is for a scrapbook page so I trimmed it down in length and shaped it into 2 pieces. I still have a bit left for another card later. I wanted to tie in the natural feeling of the jute twine, so....I stamped the sentiment on kraft paper and mounted it on a Spellbinders die cut. I found that red metallic paper when I cleaned my room It is from a 6x6 stack of various metallic colours. I added a mat of silver to tie in the silver rhinestone button and balance it all again with another mat of Kraft card stock.
Here is a close up of the flower. It has sort of net material between the flocked petals. I liked the texture contrast of this flower.

Making this card made me grateful that I reorganized my room. It was easy to find things and the whole process of planning the elements of my card went together faster than usual. I am happy with the final outcome...I would give this card to a fellow card maker!

Off to start my next card ..the themed is "no design paper"...oh my!!!

Remember those scrappy goals I shared with you earlier? Well, another one on that list is get some quick and easy card finished up for my card stash bins.

Just nice and easy kids birthday cards for Little Miss C and Little Mr P to give their friends and classmates when they go to their parties. That is a lot of children's birthday cards, so I am going to keep these ones very simple. I am even doing 4 or 5 of some of them. Gotta build up that finished card bin.

Here is my first kids birthday card for 2013.

Sorry about my shadow falling on the bottom half of the picture! If you click on the photo to enlarge it, it is somehow not quite so bad.. I really need to set up my whiteboard "box" and buy a gooseneck lamp! I am just terrible at taking pictures!.